Expedition are working with Maggie’s and Studio Daniel Libeskind to develop a new cancer support centre in the grounds of the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, London.

The scheme provides an architecturally outstanding addition to a forgotten corner of the hospital car park, and seeks to provide a calm and supportive environment to those affected by cancer.

The building form is highly bespoke, with a curved external form, signature external timber ‘fins’ and a rooftop garden to provide an oasis from the hospital environment. Expedition have been developing the structural proposals including a raking steel internal frame and the highly integrated façade steelwork. The building mixes a bold architectural form with a domestic character, with simple strategies for energy and embodied carbon, seeking to minimise the building’s impact whilst maintaining a low-tech and user friendly environment. A key structural challenge is to enable the complex form to be constructed in a way that minimises disruption and construction waste in the working hospital environment.

The scheme received planning permission early in 2020 and we are currently working through the detailed design with an intended start on site towards the end of 2020.